Two new exhibitions at Timiryazev State Biological Museum

On February 18th Timiryazev State Biological Museum presented a new exhibition “New arrivals”. Over the past few years museum collections were supplied with more than 16000 new showpieces which are selectively shown at the exhibition. The insect collection which is one of the richest in the museum was updated with longhorn beetles and butterflies of the professor N. B. Korostelyov's collection.

The new showpieces also include Indo-West Pacific clamshells, a stuffed Steller's sea eagle, the species which is included in the IUCN Red List, nests and layings collection and, besides, herbarium, animal bulks and even a gray whale spinal bone, all gathered by museum's research employees during their expeditions.

The photo exhibition “The Samara bend, an island nature reserve” will last just two weeks, March 17th — April 1st. The exhibition is a part of the project named “Russia reserved: specially protected natural territories” which is aimed to save Russian unique natural cenosis.

Amidst showpieces there are curious animals and plants of this nature reserve such as forest ones — edible dormouse, pine marten, English oak; steppe greater mole rat, feather grass, yellow star of Bethlehem and other. Many of them are at their expansion edges due to that some forest animals and plants can't be found more southerly as well as steppe ones not met more northerly. In the very Samara bend 10 new plant species were discovered, and a few are nearly endemic. There will be also Red List animals and plants shown at the exhibition, like the Apollo butterfly (Parnassius apollo), stag beetle, carpenter bee, lady's-slipper orchid, Adonis plant and more.